Zarephath

Illustration of Zarephath

Zarephath was a Phoenician coastal town situated between Sidon and Tyre, outside the territory of Israel. During the drought and famine that God sent as judgment on Israel in the days of King Ahab, the prophet Elijah was commanded to travel there and receive provision from a widow whose jar of flour and jug of oil were supernaturally sustained until the rains returned. Elijah also raised the widowโ€™s son from death through prayer, confirming the word of the Lord and strengthening her faith. The account illustrates Godโ€™s sovereign provision and willingness to extend mercy beyond Israel to Gentiles, a truth Jesus later cited in Luke 4:26 as evidence of divine grace toward outsiders.

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Details

Region
Canaan
Modern Location
Sarafand, southern Lebanon
Strongest connections in Scripture
1 Kings 17 2ร—

Nearby Places

(within ~40 km)

Key Passages

Elijah and the Widow

1 Kings 17:8-16

God sends His prophet to a Gentile widow during famine - her jar of flour and jug of oil never run out, demonstrating God's provision through impossible means.

A8nd the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

The Widow's Son Raised

1 Kings 17:17-24

Elijah raises the widow's dead son - the first resurrection miracle in Scripture, confirming both God's power over death and Elijah's prophetic authority.

A17nd it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? 19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? 21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this childโ€™s soul come into him again. 22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.

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